Russo-Georgian War

The Russo-Georgian War was a war between the Republic of Georgia and Russia, which supported the separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In the first European war of the 21st century, Georgia invaded the separatist states after coming under attack by the separatists in violation of the 1992 truce, leading to Russia invading Georgia. The Russian victory led to the expulsion of ethnic Georgians from South Ossetia and the Kodori Gorge, the recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by Russia, and Russia established military bases in the two republics.

Background
In 1991, upon leaving the Soviet Union, the new Republic of Georgia faced ethnic separatist crises in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In 1992, the Georgians reached a ceasefire with South Ossetia, but Abkhazia rebelled that year, and the Georgian forces were driven from the region in 1993. After both wars, Russian forces arrived in the separatist states to keep the peace. The conflicts remained in a stalemate until 2004, when the new, pro-West Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili came to power and made the reconquest of South Ossetia and Abkhazia a priority. That same year, Georgia reconquered the breakaway province of Adzharia. In early March 2008, Abkhazia and South Ossetia submitted formal requests for their recognition to Russia's Parliament shortly after the West's recognition of the breakaway state of Kosovo in the Balkans. Russia believed that Georgia's plans to join NATO justified Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and Russia also sought to bring about regime change in Georgia. On 20 April 2008, a Georgian reconnaissance plane was shot down by a Russian warplane, and, in late April, Russian intelligence stated that Georgia was massing 1,500 troops and policemen in the upper Kodori Gorge area in preparation for an invasion of Abkhazia. By early May, the Russian peacekeeping force in Abkhazia had been reinforced to 2,542 soldiers, but the forces brought with them heavy weaponry, and they were suspected of being combat troops instead of peacekeepers. In July, clashes broke out between Georgian and South Ossetian forces, and, by 2 August, Russian forces conducting military exercises along the Georgian border remained along the border instead of returning home. At the same time, South Ossetian separatists began intensively shelling Georgian villages, and 20,000 South Ossetian civilians (90% of the civilian population) were evacuated to Russia. On 6 August, mortar and artillery exchanges between the South Ossetians and Georgians erupted across the entire front line, and Georgia briefly had a ceasefire with the South Ossetians before the separatists resumed their bombardment. After it became clear that the South Ossetians would not cease their bombardment, the Georgians prepared an invasion; the Russians had egged on the South Ossetians into provoking a Georgian invasion in order to justify a Russian invasion of Georgia.

War
At 11:35 PM on 7 August, Georgian artillery launched smoke bombs into South Ossetia, followed by a 15-minute intermission which allowed civilians to escape. Although the Georgians had pledged safety to the Russian peacekeepers in exchange for their neutrality, the peacekeepers had to follow the Russian command to attack the Georgian troops. The Georgians advanced on Tshkinvali on the morning of 8 August, and Georgian tanks shelled South Ossetian positions. By 10:00 AM, Tshkivali had fallen to Georgian special troops, but the Russian Air Force began raiding targets inside South Ossetia and Georgia proper. Russian peacekeeping forces began to clash with the Georgians, and, by 3:00 PM, President Dmitry Medvedev had convened the Security Council. By 4:00 PM, two Russian heavy armored columns passed through the Roki Tunnel and headed towards Tshkinvali. At 5:00 PM, Russian tank columns surrounded Tshkinvali and began bombarding the Georgian positions. Georgian troops left the town center on the morning of 9 August, and a Georgian attempt to push into Tshkinvali failed. On 10 August, a ceasefire was unilaterally announced by Georgian authorities, but Russia refused Georgia's offer to pull out of South Ossetia. On 11 August, the Russian Air Force indiscriminately bombed the civilian areas of the Georgian city of Gori, and, by the day's end, the city was largely abandoned. On 13 August, the Russians captured Gori, and the destruction of Georgian military bases began. On 15 August, the Russians pushed to within 25 miles of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

Abkhaz forces opened a second front by attacking the Kodori Gorge, and Georgian forces were driven from the valley by the Abkhaz separatists and some Russian forces. On 11 August, Russian forced advanced into western Georgia from Abkhazia, and Russian forces captured a military base at Senaki. On 19 August, the Russians moved into the seaport of Poti, and the Russians plundered and damaged properties during their stay, even ransacking toilets. At the same time, the Russian Air Force began to bomb Tbilisi, and Russian hackers began war-related cyberattacks against the Georgian government.

On 12 August, President Medvedev announced the cessation of the "peace enforcement" operation in Georgia, and, on 16 August, peace was agreed - Georgian forces withdrew to their normal bases of encampment, Russian forces withdrew to their starting lines, and hostilities were nominally ceased. On 18 August, the Russian military started to pull out of Georgia, and, on 19 August, prisoners of war were swapped between Georgia and Russia. The withdrawal continued into September, and the withdrawal was complete by 18 October, with Georgian soldiers entering the recently liberated parts of the country. Russia had recognized South  Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, and, while Georgia claimed that they were under Russian occupation, in November 2011, the European Parliament acknowledged the two separatist states as Georgian-occupied regions.

Aftermath
The 2008 war was the first time since the Dissolution of the Soviet Union that the Russian military had been used against an independent state, and Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries feared that joining NATO would lead to war with Russia's powerful military. The South Ossetians destroyed most ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia and were responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Georgians, and 192,000 people were displaced by the war. Russia continued to occupy Abkhazia and South Ossetia in violation of the ceasefire agreement, continuing to threaten Georgia, and destroying its prospects of joining NATO.